Former Co-op Bank chairman Paul Flowers has been fined £400 and ordered to pay £125 costs after admitting possession of drugs.

The 63-year-old admitted two counts of possession of class A drugs - cocaine and methamphetamine - and one count of possession of class C drug ketamine.

Flowers, who is an ordained Methodist minister, stepped down as chairman of the Co-op Bank in June last year amid claims of drug use.

Arriving at Leeds magistrates' court before the doors were unlocked, he was forced to wait surrounded by reporters and photographers, whom he called "vultures".

He said: "Don't ask me any questions because I won't give any answers."

Flowers admitted drugs offences

He then asked photographers: "Do you have enough now?"

The Co-op has said it is trying to recover contractual payments worth £31,000 made to Flowers, who is believed to have been the subject of an inquiry into "lavish expenses".

A statement released by the Methodist Church, which had suspended Flowers, said: "Now that Paul Flowers has admitted guilt and been sentenced, our disciplinary process can move ahead.

"It is a confidential process so that all involved can speak freely, and it is independent of the church leadership. We cannot give a deadline by which this work will be completed, but we would expect it to be before the summer."